Posted: 5/2/06
Robbery suspect could be tried as adult
A 16-year-old La Crescent youth who allegedly beat and robbed a woman at knifepoint will have an adult certification hearing on May 12 at 2:30 p.m. in Caledonia.
Mark Anthony Anderson faces eight felony counts in the case, in which a 43-year-old woman was beaten and robbed in La Crescent on the afternoon of April 7.
A 14-year-old male juvenile who formerly lived in Caledonia has also been charged in the incident, but hasnít made a court appearance.
Houston County assistant attorney Suzanne Harnack said the adult certification hearing is due to the seriousness of the offense, and the fact that Anderson has been on probation for many years and has a history of juvenile adjudication.
ìItís a very serious crime,î Harnack said on April 27. Certification procedures take place before the regular issues of the underlying offense, she added.
The woman who was attacked and robbed was able to identify Anderson because he had been her sonís friend and had been in the home before, according to the criminal complaint. The two juveniles were masked during the attack, but she identified Anderson by his voice, the complaint stated.
The arrest took place at the St. Paul home of the 14-year-old juvenile who had been seen with Anderson after the alleged assault and robbery.
Anderson is charged with one count of aggravated assault, three counts of first degree burglary, one count of terroristic threats, two counts of fifth degree assault, and one count of theft.
The 14-year-old juvenile faces the same charges except that the assaults are gross misdemeanors and not felonies because he had only one prior offense, Harnack said.
Anderson is in the Juvenile Correction Facility in Red Wing. A probable cause hearing for him took place on April 24 in Caledonia.
Meiners pleads guilty
Tiffany Meiners, 22, Caledonia, pled guilty on April 24 to one felony count of terroristic threats.
Sentencing will take place on June 6 at 2 p.m. in Third District Court in Caledonia.
Meiners threatened her ex-boyfriend on August 8, 2005 in Spring Grove with a paintball gun that he and authorities mistook for a real hand gun.
She originally pled not guilty to four counts of terroristic threats. Three of the charges were dropped in the plea agreement.
Boat rescue
Houston County deputies and Minnesota DNR game warden Scott Fritz assisted a father and son who were stranded on an island on the Mississippi River south of the West Channel Bridge at about 11 p.m. on April 26.
Chief deputy Ken Frank said the pair were trying out a boat but the engine killed. They were stuck about a quarter mile south of Coney Island in La Crescent Township. Rescuers used Fritzís boat.
Frank said the sheriffís department has applied for a grant to rent a boat lift at Lawrence Lake Marina so that the sheriffís boat can be kept there. Brownsville Fire and Rescue could have access to it also, he said. Currently the county boat is kept in the water on the weekends only, Frank said, making it hard for the department to respond to calls such as the one that occurred last week.
Caledonia Argus
314 West Lincoln St.
P.O. Box 227
Caledonia, MN 55921-0227
507/724-3475
E-Mail: editor.argus@ecm-inc.com